Crisis. One definition of crisis in the dictionary is “a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger”. Of all the Sabbats, the one I like the best is Mabon. A couple of years ago I wrote about why it is my favorite. You may read about it here.
In a “normal” year I would celebrate Mabon with my friends at or around the Fall Equinox. Camping outdoors, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Enjoying the fall weather. The leaves on the trees just starting to turn color. The sunny days and cool nights. Warming ourselves up around a blazing campfire. Participating in a group Mabon Ritual. Welcoming this part of the Turning of the Wheel.
Not this year. At least not in a normal way. Covid-19 and a lot of other events changed all of that. As some of my readers know, my sister and I moved from Wisconsin east to our ancestral homeland last May. We left our apartment home the end of April and arrived in western New York State May 1st. I celebrated Beltane by moving into our new apartment in a village of under 2,000 people. You can refresh your memory of our move here.
Fortunately in this Covid crisis I am still able to at least stay in touch with my pagan community through online Zoom and Facebook Live events. Circle Sanctuary will have their Mabon celebration, called Welcome Fall online. Is it the same as celebrating Mabon in person with my tribe? No. But at least it gives me the feeling of communing with my fellow pagans.
But Covid-19 isn’t the only crisis facing us this year. Last year at Pagan Spirit Gathering, I kept having feelings of what I thought we might be facing in 2020. Call it my intuition kicking into high gear. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. I just called it a “watershed year”. And that feeling just wouldn’t go away. Definition: “A watershed moment is a turning point, the exact moment that changes the direction of an activity or situation. A watershed moment is a dividing point, from which things will never be the same. It is considered momentous, though a watershed moment is often recognized in hindsight.”
Hindsight did prove my “feelings” to be correct. Was I, or am I, happy that what I thought might happen did? Absolutely not. The pandemic was just to be the start of it early this year. So many people worldwide getting the coronavirus, and the deaths that followed it was, and is, terrible. Lockdowns that affected the economy and put so many people out of work. Many of whom didn’t have a safety net, especially in the lower income and marginalized communities. Businesses that went or will go out of business. Adding this year’s election cycle into the mix hasn’t helped either, although I chose not to delve into that with this article. Hopefully there will be a vaccine for Covid-19 sometime before the end of this year or the start of 2021.
A couple of months ago I was hoping that these crises would be all that happened this year. No, wrong on that account. Add in horrific wildfires in our western states compounding what was already going on. Then came the start of the hurricane season. More devastation, deaths and destruction. Are we headed for a truly apocalyptic event to happen yet this year? I hope not, but I did write about that possibility as well in February. More about that here.
I have to admit to all of you who read my blog that I had a crisis of sorts myself. It stemmed from all the negative television and news articles I was seeing and reading. Social media was not helping me at all. Some Facebook posts were “triggering” me. I ended up unfollowing and unfriending a few Facebook friends who were either posting or making comments that offended me. It helped that I was able to get off of social media periodically this year. Especially since June. I am seriously considering removing myself from social media. Again. At least for awhile. Maybe until after this year’s election. Maybe forever…
Until next time…in the future…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In